Rangeball-

Yes, 18 strands is "standard", but remember that 8125 is very small diameter. While faster, yes, Merlin and myself both like a "soft shot" while still maintaining competitive speed-- especially with hunting equipment---it makes no difference if you are doing 290 or 340 when the arrow passes thru a deer at 20-40 yds, but what DOES matter is the noise associated with the bow, and the chance of that animal jumping the string! (DOH![:@]) Merlin has decided that flat-out speed is totally secondary to producing a quiet shot while hunting. Merlin DOES install 18 strands of 8125 of some of their lower-poundage and drawlength bows, and this is fine, but when you get up there in speed, drawlength, and poundage, it is always best to make the experience as enjoyable as it can be, and that is not done by seeing how fast it can go through a chrono--- because 20 fps one way or the other simply doesn't matter and you'll never be able to see the difference in your pins anyway at normal hunting distances.

String material has come a long ways since the days or Fast Flight and Streamline, but the overwhelming issue that remains apparrent even today is that the string MUST has a bit of "give" to it, otherwise over time the shock beats the snot out of other components, and warranty issues arise. That is why many if not most manufactuers are now sliding over again towards more forgiving and quiet bows, especially for hunting. Throwing an extra "loop" of material (going from 18 to 20 strands) helps with this. Look around, everywhere you look the bows are now getting rounder cams, increased brace heights, and generally quieter dispositions. If speed was such a big deal to people, bows such as the BK2 would've had a more significant impact and been bought by everyone. In reality, serious hunters could care less about that at normal ranges except in that the speed needs to be competitive and capable of downing game effectively. All bows today are capable of that.

Fast flight had "give" to it, (too much some say) but everyone wanted faster still, so out came Streamline, which was some nasty stuff IMO. I saw more bows blow up with Streamline on them than virtually any other material ever used to date. That is why you hardly see it around anymore. To be fair it was also during the time when everyone was shooting 90lb bows and throwing 200grain arrows too.......[:@]

8125 is a small diameter, but stilll offers a bit of "give"--and when you throw 20 strands instead of 18, it produces a quieter shot. All depends on what you are looking for, but the bottom line is this--

IF Merlin wanted to produce a "smoking" bow, we could certainly acheive that as it is very simple. It is MUCH tougher to produce a bow that is super-quiet, offers NO vibration and handshock at the shot, and yet still offers competitive speeds. We have effectively designed that into the Max-Xtreme. If you want to take that design, and make it more noisy by dropping strands, that is your choice, but for a hunting rig I have to ask----WHY?[]

Good shooting, Pinwheel 12